Dr Peter Morgan of Zimbabwe today received the Stockholm Water Prize for his life-long work to protect the health and lives of millions of people through improved water and sanitation technologies. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the prize to Dr Morgan at a Royal Award Ceremony during the World Water Week held in Stockholm, Sweden.

An estimated 1.8 billion people live without access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. The consequences are disastrous. Diseases caused by unsafe water and inadequate sanitation kill more than 5,000 people each day. Despite these staggering numbers, the area of sanitation rarely receives the attention it so desperately needs.

This year's laureate, Dr Morgan, has spent the last four decades inventing and advancing low-cost practical solutions to provide access to safe sanitation and clean water that are being used by millions of people worldwide.

"Many currently existing solutions to provide clean water and sanitation are unaffordable, impractical and out of reach for the world's poorest people," said the Stockholm Water Prize Committee in its citation. "As a result of Dr Morgan's pioneering work, countless communities now enjoy safer water, a cleaner environment and quality of life."

On receiving the award, Dr Morgan said: "It is indeed a great honour and privilege to have been presented this unique award. Those of us who work in this vital area are uniquely privileged because we are well placed and have an important role to play in conserving, and yet delivering the most precious resource on Earth - fresh water. We have an opportunity to leave behind us a legacy of good work which benefits Mankind and hopefully Mother Earth too. We must all learn to become true partners with the world we live in."

Several of Dr Morgan's most prominent innovations, including the "B" type Bush Pump and the Blair Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine, have been adopted as the national standard by the government of Zimbabwe.

The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the Patron of the Stockholm Water Prize.